Fluid-actuated means for controlling an engine.



w. H. CURTIS.

FLUID ACTUATED MEANS FOR CONTROLLING AN ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.26, I914.

WIN/am H. CWT/Ls.

WITNESSES:

A TTORNEY w. H. curmsf FLUID ACTUATED MEANS FOR CONTROLLING AN ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-26, 1914- I 1317 -1 17 e v .Pe'eented Feb.20,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

i Q v v, v n e Ill 1' N W v v m I v I v ATTORNEY W. H. CURTIS.

FLUID ACTUATED MEANS FOR CONTROLLING AN ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG.26, I914.

1,217,117. Patented Feb. 20, 1917-.

3. SHEETSSHEET 3.

NNYANQEEE! I E WITNESSES: H "a A INVENTOR I D STATES PATENT orrron- WILLIAM 12:. scams, or PORTLAND, onneoir.

FLUfID-AGTUATED MEANS FOR CONTROLLING AN ENGINE.

Actuated Means for Controlling an Engine,v

of which the following isa specification.

The direct object of my'invention is to operate the control lever of an. engine by fluid actuated means controlled from a dis tant point and operating to hold said control lever in the position to which it has been moved by said actuating means. Thus in a vessel the control of theengine-could,

be placed iria pilothouse, thereby giving the navigator direct control of the engine,

instead of merel indirect control, throughthe medium of t e engineer, and by signals given to the latter.

Another result ofmy invention is, that thedirect control of the engine so placed in the hands of the pilot is more efficient; it permits the pilot to instantly control the speed, and to stop andreverse the engine as the circumstances may require.

Another result attained by my invention is, that the clutch mechanism will, under all circumstances, be operated gradually, and

cannot be thrown into action abruptly even by a careless operator., This feature is essential in marine engines,- since the resistance offered to the propeller by the water is so great as to frequently cause the breaking of the propeller blades,- brprjury to the operating means thereof, when the clutch mechanismis. unskilfully handled. My 1nvention is also serviceable to operatesteering gear and any device embo dying a member to be moved by a'mechan'ical actuating force and held in the position to which moved. The details, mode of operation, and particular features 'of my invention will be more readily understood by a description of the accompanying drawings, in which;

Figure 1 is a front elevation, showing in dlagrammatlc form a marlne engine and the application of my invention for controlling the clutch and reverse gear from a point remote;

Fig. l is a partial rear elevation corresponding with Fig. 1;

Fig. 2 1s a partial left-end elevation of the pneumatic piston cylinder shown in Fig.

- 1, and of the valve which controls the flow Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented F nce, 1917.

Application filed August 26, 1914. Serial No. 858,753.

Fig. 3 is a right-side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 2; j Figs. 4. to 6, inclusive, are-horizontal sections of the valve mechanism, taken in numerical order, on the lines 44;, 5-5 and 6'-6 of Fig. 2, respectively;

Fig. 7 is a vertical'section taken approximately on'the line 7-7 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 8 is a larger-scale rear elevation of that part of the valve gear embodying the floating link.

For convenience I have illustratedmy invention as applied to the clutch and reversing gear of a-marineengine of the internal combustion type; but, of course, I do of air into and out of opposite ends of, said cylinder;

not limit'myself to any particular type of engine.

' a represents a marine engine of the standard internal combustion type. b is the lever for controlling the throttle of the engine,

and 0 is the lever for controlling the sparkin mechanism of the engine.

i represents the clutch and reverse gear mechanism, and e is the opefating lever thereof. f represents the propeller shaft and g the propeller blades. The control lever, e, of the clutch and reversing gear is detachably. connected to and operatedby my fluid actuated means which are operated by the lever uon the stand u; and the levers b, 0, connected to the throttle and the sparkmg mechanism of the engine, are operatively connected to the levers, u u also 10- cated'on the stand u, which is assumed to a be in the pilot house of the vessel.

As shown in the-drawings, my fluid ac tuated means for operating the clutch'and reversing mechanismof the engine consist of a pneumaticcylinder h, provided with lateral trunnions 11, by which it is pivotally mounted in the standards j; and in the cylinder h reciprocates a piston 70, having a piston rod 112., on the extremity of which is a shackle n, by which it is connected to the extremity of the lever e. v provided with an elongated-slot g, and the lever e is provided with an "eye in its upper end, and these parts are connected by a pin 0, which extends through the eye of the le- The shackle is i l ver- 6. See Fig. 8. Pivoted latch-plates p hold the pin 0 in place. This arrangement facilitates the disconnection of the lever e from the pneumatic cylinder and piston when it is desired to control the clutch and reversing gear manually. The shackle is made with a lateral stud n to which is connected the link 1 of the valve-gear mechanism. See Figs. 1 and 8. The slot 9 is provided in the shackle n so that when the fluid actuated mechanism has been operated to set the clutch mechanism in its ahead position, the operating lever u may be slightly reversely moved, and thus relieve the control lever, e, of all strain, without moving it from its ahead position, thereby preventing undue friction and wear on the internal parts of the clutch mechanism.

The pneumatic cylinder h is provided with a valve 1*, which is connected to the '0pp0-.

site ends of the cylinder by the pipe lines t, t, and thus controls the inflow and exhaust of the actuating fluid into and from' the opposite ends of the cylinder. The storage tank .9 is connected with the valve 0 through a pipe 8'.

The valve 1- comprises a casing W" mounted on a bracket 7, which includes a bearing 1' for the valve cam shaft rfl'on the extreme end of which is a lever arm 7-, the rotary movement of which is limited by stops 1', integral parts of the bracket 1' See Fig. 2. The portion of the cam shaft 1' underlying Y the valve casing is provided with lateral 1 set screws 1".

arms a on which cagms r are secured by the Said cams have their working surfaces on arcs of circles centered from the axis of the shaftrt A floating link 1- is pivoted on the outer end of the arm 7 (see Figs. 2 and 8) and the lower end of the link 0 is pivoted to the link y, of the valve gear mechanism. The floating link 1- is variably connected by the link 1 ac, and the latter is. connected by a link x to the operating lever u on the stand a. The throttle control mechanism, including the lever b, is also carried to the stand a by means of bell cranks w, w and links 'w e0 and is i connected to the throttle operatinglever 14?.

Thespark I controlling mechanism is also carried to the stand a by means of bell cranks o, o and links 42 v '0 and a? and I is connected to the operating lever a The .valve mechanism 1' is so constructed that when the air is admitted into one end of the cylinder 1;. it will be simultaneously and proportionately exhausted from the opposite end of said cylinder; the construction being as follows:

The valve casing r is made with two air inlet valve chambers 1', r, and two exhaust port valve chambers 7- 2-1 Compare Figs.

'4, 5, 6 and 7. The air supply pipe 8 connects with the valve casing 1- through a duct r connected by passageways 1' withsaid air inlet valve chambers 1', r. See Fig. 4:- The exhaust port valve chambers r and r are connected by a passageway 1'", which opens to the atmosphere.

As shown in Figs. '5 and 7, the inlet port to a bell crank valve chamber 1- and the exhaust port valve chamber r are connected with a passageway, If, and the exhaust port valve chamber 1 and the inlet port valve chamber r is connected by a passageway 23 The passageways t t are made with necks t 5, with which connect the ends of the pipe t, t. The ports-of the inlet valve chambers r 1*, and of the exhaust v'alve'cha 'mbers 7' 1" are controlled by valves r r, of the puppet type, as shown in Fig. 7. These valves are made with stems W", 1' 1*, 1' 3, as shown in Figs. 2, 3,- 6 and 7; the valve stems r, r bearing on' the outer of the cams r, and the valve stems 1' 1' bearing on the inner of said cams, and said valves are operated by the rocking of the cam shaft T The air inlet valves control the passage of air through the pipes t, t, into the opposite ends of the pneumatic cylinder 72.. In this way, when he cam shaft r is rocked the air will be admitted to one end of the pneumatic cylinder h and simultaneously discharge from the opposite end thereof. Since the air inlet and the exhaust valves are operated in unison with each other and by the same medium air is simultaneously admitted and exhausted at the opposite ends of the pneumatic cylinder 71. proportionately, and in this way the piston k in the. cylinder h is held under complete control.

The valve gear mechanism shown in Fig. 8, by which the engine control lever, e, is

operated is of the well known hunting type. This valve gear mechanism is operated by the valve mechanism 1', which is connected to and controlled by the lever u Since the lower end of the floatinglinkis connected to the fulcrum pin 11 on the link y, said movement of the link 7" will throw the arm r on the camshaft r to the left, with respect to Fig. 8, against one of the stops 7*, thereby correspondingly opening the air inlet valves and exhaust valves of the valve mechanism r, controlling the pneumatic cylinder h and causing a relative movement of the piston is. The consequent movement of the link y will then cause the floating link 1* to be rocked on the fulcrum pin 2, connecting the link 9" with the link 1', and such action would cause the reverse movement of the arm 7' of the cam shaft 4* until the valve mechanism 7" is restored to its normal state, that is, again having all its valves closed, thereby holding the control nected to said floating link,

lever, e, in the position in which it has been placed by the mechanism r.

I claim: 7

1. The combination with a device controlled by a lever, of fluid actuated .means for operating such lever substantially as described, comprising a cylinder a fluid actuated piston operating therein, said cylinder prior operation of said valve being provided with inlet and outlet ports,

valves controlling the ports, means for operating the valves, such means including a rockable arm, a floating link connected at one end to the extremity of such arm, manually controlled operating means, cona rod extending from the piston, the outer end of which red I is connected with said control lever of the device, such connection being. adapted to permit some movement in either direction Without correspondingly moving said control lever, and. a rod pivotally connecting the other end of'said floating link With said piston rod.

2. The combination with a device controlled by a lever, of fluid actuated means for operating such lever substantially as described, comprising a cylinder a fluid actuated piston operating therein, said cylinder being pivotally supported atits sides, and provided with inlet and outlet ports, valves controlling the ports, means for operating the valves. such means including -a cam shaft, a rockable arm fixed thereon, a floating link connected at one end to the extremity of such arm, manually controlled operating means, connected to said floating link, a rod extending from the piston, the outer end of which rod'is connected with said control lever of the device, and a rod pivotally connecting the other end of said floating link with 'said piston rod.

WILLIAM H. CURTIS.

Witnesses:

WM. 0. SOHMITT, CECIL LONG. 

